Almost all of us know the popular passage from scripture, John 3:16. — “For God so loved the world that he gaves his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Well, during one of my recent devotionals, I came across a passage from 1 John 3:16. It, too, was very impactful — “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
Pretty cool, huh? Well, I thought – “I wonder how many other inspirational verses are at chapter 3 verse 16 in the other books of the New Testament”. Below are ones from my research.
MATTHEW
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God.”
MARK
“These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter)”
LUKE
“John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
ACTS
“By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.”
ROMANS (this one doesn’t fit the 3:16 mold)
“ruin and misery mark their ways”
1 CORINTHIANS
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
2 CORINTHIANS
“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
GALATIANS
“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds”, meaning many people, but “and to your seed”, meaning one person, who is Christ.”
EPHESIANS
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”
PHILIPPIANS
“Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”
COLOSSIANS
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
1 THESSALONIANS (no 3:16)
2 THESSALONIANS
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
1 TIMOTHY
“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.”
2 TIMOTHY
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
TITUS (no 3:16)
PHILEMON (no 3:16)
HEBREWS
“Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?”
JAMES
“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
1 PETER
“keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
2 PETER
“He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
1 JOHN
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
2 JOHN (no 3:16)
3 JOHN (no 3:16)
JUDE (no 3:16)
REVELATION
“So because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
So there you have it. Wasn’t that pretty cool? I think there is something to the 3:16’s in the New Testament. They are impactful, inspirational and applicable to the narrow path we are choosing for our life.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
